2006 Volvo C70 T5
Discussion
Back in 2019 I bought a one owner fastidiously maintained 2003 Audi A4 3.0 Cabriolet, with only 60k miles on the clock, for a bargain £2k. Seller had put it on Gumtree with no photos and I was first to spot it. Sold it in 2021 for £2.5k when the front arches were starting to rot, fuel gauge stopped working and central locking started playing up. Thought I'd done well until I started looking for a cheap car for my wife a while back. Difficult to stomach paying £3k plus for something on its last legs and far inferior to the Audi.
So, after considering and dismissing anything from MX5s (rotten underneath, even 10 year old ones) to a Legacy 3.0R, I bumped into a neighbour on the school run who was about to sell his Volvo. They had bought it in 2020 for a COVID summer and it had become surplus to requirements with the arrival of a company EV, plus existing Freelander and a rare imported Scoobie. A few hours later and I handed over £1,800 for a 2006 C70 T5, which is basically a Focus CC with the Focus ST slightly detuned 2.5 5 cylinder petrol engine and heavyweight Volvo safety equipment. The price reflected it has 140k miles on the clock.
The benefit of buying from a neighbour is that I know the car has been reliable to date so no nasty initial surprises. Previous owner had spent money doing whatever was needed to the mechanicals, such as replacing many suspension components, new cambelt and water pump, and a comprehensive service only 1k miles ago. As Volvo was Ford owned at the time, most part numbers are available with Ford rather than Volvo price tags. Whilst the service book has long since been lost, I have paperwork showing servicing since 2012 and assume it would have been regularly serviced in its early years. So hopefully, despite the mileage, the car will get my wife and son, and probably very often me, out and about for a while to come.
The only faults advised by the previous owner were 1.) a slow puncture to osr tyre (both rears replaced today with Avon ZV7s to match almost brand new fronts), 2.) osr window doesn't self raise once roof closed, 3.) slight squeak that sounds like top mounts or ARB drop links might be on their way out and 4.) handbrake would benefit from adjustment.
Driving dynamics are as expected: premium levels of refinement and comfort but a cruiser rather than the sporty setup of a Focus ST. What has surprised me is just how tight and responsive the car remains after all these years and miles.
Anyway, here she is.
Having been parked near trees with little use over the winter I spent a good couple of hours cleaning moss from boot gutter and window rubbers etc. After a quick wash I was pleased to discover a very clean car with no dents, rust or signs of previous accident/paint repairs. Paint hasn't been polished for some time though.
Mystic silver touch-up on order to address rear bumper scrapes (despite mega loud parking sensors!) and a few stone chips.
Interior plastic cleaner and then leather treatment revealed a remarkably smart cabin. Quality plastics and leather have worn extremely well.
Next job is clay bar, paint touch up and then a good polish. Not sure how well the alloys will come up but they are quite tidy and I don't think the cost of a full strip and powder coat is justified. Hopefully the headlight condensation will clear with use; already improving.
So, after considering and dismissing anything from MX5s (rotten underneath, even 10 year old ones) to a Legacy 3.0R, I bumped into a neighbour on the school run who was about to sell his Volvo. They had bought it in 2020 for a COVID summer and it had become surplus to requirements with the arrival of a company EV, plus existing Freelander and a rare imported Scoobie. A few hours later and I handed over £1,800 for a 2006 C70 T5, which is basically a Focus CC with the Focus ST slightly detuned 2.5 5 cylinder petrol engine and heavyweight Volvo safety equipment. The price reflected it has 140k miles on the clock.
The benefit of buying from a neighbour is that I know the car has been reliable to date so no nasty initial surprises. Previous owner had spent money doing whatever was needed to the mechanicals, such as replacing many suspension components, new cambelt and water pump, and a comprehensive service only 1k miles ago. As Volvo was Ford owned at the time, most part numbers are available with Ford rather than Volvo price tags. Whilst the service book has long since been lost, I have paperwork showing servicing since 2012 and assume it would have been regularly serviced in its early years. So hopefully, despite the mileage, the car will get my wife and son, and probably very often me, out and about for a while to come.
The only faults advised by the previous owner were 1.) a slow puncture to osr tyre (both rears replaced today with Avon ZV7s to match almost brand new fronts), 2.) osr window doesn't self raise once roof closed, 3.) slight squeak that sounds like top mounts or ARB drop links might be on their way out and 4.) handbrake would benefit from adjustment.
Driving dynamics are as expected: premium levels of refinement and comfort but a cruiser rather than the sporty setup of a Focus ST. What has surprised me is just how tight and responsive the car remains after all these years and miles.
Anyway, here she is.
Having been parked near trees with little use over the winter I spent a good couple of hours cleaning moss from boot gutter and window rubbers etc. After a quick wash I was pleased to discover a very clean car with no dents, rust or signs of previous accident/paint repairs. Paint hasn't been polished for some time though.
Mystic silver touch-up on order to address rear bumper scrapes (despite mega loud parking sensors!) and a few stone chips.
Interior plastic cleaner and then leather treatment revealed a remarkably smart cabin. Quality plastics and leather have worn extremely well.
Next job is clay bar, paint touch up and then a good polish. Not sure how well the alloys will come up but they are quite tidy and I don't think the cost of a full strip and powder coat is justified. Hopefully the headlight condensation will clear with use; already improving.
Lovely looking car!
We were looking for one last year but the wife plumped for a T5 C30 instead. Now have 2 Ovlovs - the C30 is an 08 on 97k and an 08 XC70 on 142k. Neither have any rust and the leather interiors are in incredible condition. My prev Hondas with leather and under 100k were always starting to tire and sag!
Agree with the cruiser tho - even the C30 is a softer than my prev CR-V :-)
Enjoy!
We were looking for one last year but the wife plumped for a T5 C30 instead. Now have 2 Ovlovs - the C30 is an 08 on 97k and an 08 XC70 on 142k. Neither have any rust and the leather interiors are in incredible condition. My prev Hondas with leather and under 100k were always starting to tire and sag!
Agree with the cruiser tho - even the C30 is a softer than my prev CR-V :-)
Enjoy!
Dadoc2001 said:
Lovely looking car!
We were looking for one last year but the wife plumped for a T5 C30 instead. Now have 2 Ovlovs - the C30 is an 08 on 97k and an 08 XC70 on 142k. Neither have any rust and the leather interiors are in incredible condition. My prev Hondas with leather and under 100k were always starting to tire and sag!
Agree with the cruiser tho - even the C30 is a softer than my prev CR-V :-)
Enjoy!
Thanks. Maybe I'm getting old but the comfort of the C70 is making me consider selling my Alfa and buying a more dog friendly Volvo estate.We were looking for one last year but the wife plumped for a T5 C30 instead. Now have 2 Ovlovs - the C30 is an 08 on 97k and an 08 XC70 on 142k. Neither have any rust and the leather interiors are in incredible condition. My prev Hondas with leather and under 100k were always starting to tire and sag!
Agree with the cruiser tho - even the C30 is a softer than my prev CR-V :-)
Enjoy!
No dog department is the only reason I haven't bought one of these.
Looks a nice car, may it give you lots of happy family motoring, especially if we gat a summer this year.
And now you have another post (see comment on another thread).
At least this should get your thread back onto page one of Readers Wives Cars.
Looks a nice car, may it give you lots of happy family motoring, especially if we gat a summer this year.
And now you have another post (see comment on another thread).
At least this should get your thread back onto page one of Readers Wives Cars.
I sold mine 3 or so months ago. Surprisingly characterful things. Drink fuel for fun, mind! Suggest you lube your roof seals if you haven't already, and do them every 6 months or so. 17s make a difference to ride comfort, I'm sure - don't be tempted to 'upgrade' to 18s. Other misc ramblings are available.
Oh, check your boot drains regularly. Lots have evidence of water in the boot well, which is never a good thing...
Oh, check your boot drains regularly. Lots have evidence of water in the boot well, which is never a good thing...
QBee said:
No dog department is the only reason I haven't bought one of these.
Looks a nice car, may it give you lots of happy family motoring, especially if we gat a summer this year.
And now you have another post (see comment on another thread).
At least this should get your thread back onto page one of Readers Wives Cars.
Thanks. Maybe I'll raise a Readers Wives thread; that should get lots of interest!Looks a nice car, may it give you lots of happy family motoring, especially if we gat a summer this year.
And now you have another post (see comment on another thread).
At least this should get your thread back onto page one of Readers Wives Cars.
Bonefish Blues said:
I sold mine 3 or so months ago. Surprisingly characterful things. Drink fuel for fun, mind! Suggest you lube your roof seals if you haven't already, and do them every 6 months or so. 17s make a difference to ride comfort, I'm sure - don't be tempted to 'upgrade' to 18s. Other misc ramblings are available.
Oh, check your boot drains regularly. Lots have evidence of water in the boot well, which is never a good thing...
Thanks more the tips. All welcome.Oh, check your boot drains regularly. Lots have evidence of water in the boot well, which is never a good thing...
Roof seals were lubed last year but I'll do them again. Spent some time clearing moss from boot gutter and will need to check if the drains are now clear.
One headlight has cleared itself of condensation but think I'll need the wife's hairdryer for the offside one. Lenses look clear of sun damage though.
SFTWend said:
Bonefish Blues said:
I sold mine 3 or so months ago. Surprisingly characterful things. Drink fuel for fun, mind! Suggest you lube your roof seals if you haven't already, and do them every 6 months or so. 17s make a difference to ride comfort, I'm sure - don't be tempted to 'upgrade' to 18s. Other misc ramblings are available.
Oh, check your boot drains regularly. Lots have evidence of water in the boot well, which is never a good thing...
Thanks more the tips. All welcome.Oh, check your boot drains regularly. Lots have evidence of water in the boot well, which is never a good thing...
Roof seals were lubed last year but I'll do them again. Spent some time clearing moss from boot gutter and will need to check if the drains are now clear.
One headlight has cleared itself of condensation but think I'll need the wife's hairdryer for the offside one. Lenses look clear of sun damage though.
I was stupidly thinking about buying a third car last year after seeing how cheap these are. A T5 would be the pick, you’re very lucky! Everyone compares the smaller Volvos of this era to a Focus but they’re nothing alike, they share some components but pretty much everything you see on the surface is different and far nicer. Wish Volvo had carried on with the C70 (and C30)
Nice car...especially for the money !
I had a C30 for a while.....mainly to reduce running costs as it was the 1.6D drive E....as has been said, that era was Ford based which was a plus....or so I thought at the time... !!! But that is another story...!
Prior to that car I had a lovely Alfa 156 JTDM150 with a remap... 185 diesel BHP so the C30 was a bit of a change from that !
However, I had an itching for the C30 T5....which I presume has the same engine as your C70 ?
There were folk on PH who had that engine up to around 300BHP IIRC, which is quite easily done as it is readily tuneable.
Even now your Volvo looks good, somehow the styling has aged well.
Maybe put a sports exhaust on it....those engines sound quite good as standard....
I had a C30 for a while.....mainly to reduce running costs as it was the 1.6D drive E....as has been said, that era was Ford based which was a plus....or so I thought at the time... !!! But that is another story...!
Prior to that car I had a lovely Alfa 156 JTDM150 with a remap... 185 diesel BHP so the C30 was a bit of a change from that !
However, I had an itching for the C30 T5....which I presume has the same engine as your C70 ?
There were folk on PH who had that engine up to around 300BHP IIRC, which is quite easily done as it is readily tuneable.
Even now your Volvo looks good, somehow the styling has aged well.
Maybe put a sports exhaust on it....those engines sound quite good as standard....
We are very similar ;-)
I brought a Mk2 C70 T5 last summer / August. Brought my car from the C70 volvo club on Facebook. A member was selling his one as he had replaced it with a facelift version. Mine is 2007 C70 t5 88K auto. No nav / premium / fake leather., some history, x2 keys, cheap potatoes £700. I have it delivered fdrom up north and so on my drive, £1100.
It had a few issues though, SRS light was on due to drivers door airbag wiring which took me ages to fix, and I mean ages. Xenon balast had gone and it needed discs / pads. Rust underneath due to it sitting around. Wire brush / hammerite sorted that. The most important thing was that the roof worked and it changed gear smoothly.
This isnt my first Mk2 C70 t5. I brought one a few years ago for next to nothing. However roof didnt work and I thought I could fix it. When I picked it up I then noticed the gearbox used to shunt into D / N which is a sign the valve body is going. I installed a new roof pump but broke the rams in the roof, so decided to sell it on.
So my latest one, drove it over summer, my wife loved it and has declared it as her car, happy wife, happy life, etc. Really enjoyed open air motoring and where I had originally planned to sell it off just before the end of summer I then decided to keep it and slowly future proof it over winter in readiness for this summer. It doesnt hold me in a lot of money so its my summer car.
So Ive now replaced tyres, cambelt, water pump, coils, plugs, all filters, replaced front springs and shocks as these tend to break. Ive only got the gearbox fluid to replace. I do my own spannering so its quite an easy car to work on ands youtube is full of videos. I plan to tax it from 1/4/2023.
It suffers from a really annoying issue though where if the roof is down, over bumpy ground the doors can open slightly, No they door swing open but slightly move as the locks on these are plastic and wear. You can wrap electrical tape around the lock bar on the body which stops it but I will replace both this summer.
They are great cars, juicy on fuel though / high road tax but once that roof is down its tremendous.
Ive got a autel code reader which helps with issues.
simon
I brought a Mk2 C70 T5 last summer / August. Brought my car from the C70 volvo club on Facebook. A member was selling his one as he had replaced it with a facelift version. Mine is 2007 C70 t5 88K auto. No nav / premium / fake leather., some history, x2 keys, cheap potatoes £700. I have it delivered fdrom up north and so on my drive, £1100.
It had a few issues though, SRS light was on due to drivers door airbag wiring which took me ages to fix, and I mean ages. Xenon balast had gone and it needed discs / pads. Rust underneath due to it sitting around. Wire brush / hammerite sorted that. The most important thing was that the roof worked and it changed gear smoothly.
This isnt my first Mk2 C70 t5. I brought one a few years ago for next to nothing. However roof didnt work and I thought I could fix it. When I picked it up I then noticed the gearbox used to shunt into D / N which is a sign the valve body is going. I installed a new roof pump but broke the rams in the roof, so decided to sell it on.
So my latest one, drove it over summer, my wife loved it and has declared it as her car, happy wife, happy life, etc. Really enjoyed open air motoring and where I had originally planned to sell it off just before the end of summer I then decided to keep it and slowly future proof it over winter in readiness for this summer. It doesnt hold me in a lot of money so its my summer car.
So Ive now replaced tyres, cambelt, water pump, coils, plugs, all filters, replaced front springs and shocks as these tend to break. Ive only got the gearbox fluid to replace. I do my own spannering so its quite an easy car to work on ands youtube is full of videos. I plan to tax it from 1/4/2023.
It suffers from a really annoying issue though where if the roof is down, over bumpy ground the doors can open slightly, No they door swing open but slightly move as the locks on these are plastic and wear. You can wrap electrical tape around the lock bar on the body which stops it but I will replace both this summer.
They are great cars, juicy on fuel though / high road tax but once that roof is down its tremendous.
Ive got a autel code reader which helps with issues.
simon
Great idea, which I have tried. Ive removed both locks and greased everything. Adjusted the lock arms etc. Eventually the doors pop open again. The tape trick does work, Thickens the bars which makes a better grip. however too much tape and it makes it worse, so a real trail and error task :-) i plan to try and buy a low mileage set of locks this summer.
Car makes a lovely 5 cylinder noise. looking forward to getting it back on the road.
Simon
Car makes a lovely 5 cylinder noise. looking forward to getting it back on the road.
Simon
Got a couple of jobs done today (sort of!).
Off to a great start; took all of 5 minutes to adjust handbrake from 6 to 4 clicks of the ratchet via a little tightening of the nut next to the lever. Now holds the car firmly on a slope.
Discovered cause of severe condensation to offside headlight. Rear plastic cover is missing one of the spring clasps so wasn't sealed. Secured with gorilla tape until I can source clasps.
Clay bar has cleansed paint of a few yeas of contamination and chips and other marks touched in. I've been buying touch up ready mixed with lacquer off the bay for years and find they do a pretty good job; doubled in price over the years to a tenner so best not get carried away with too much more spending.
Hopefully give her a polish tomorrow.
Off to a great start; took all of 5 minutes to adjust handbrake from 6 to 4 clicks of the ratchet via a little tightening of the nut next to the lever. Now holds the car firmly on a slope.
Discovered cause of severe condensation to offside headlight. Rear plastic cover is missing one of the spring clasps so wasn't sealed. Secured with gorilla tape until I can source clasps.
Clay bar has cleansed paint of a few yeas of contamination and chips and other marks touched in. I've been buying touch up ready mixed with lacquer off the bay for years and find they do a pretty good job; doubled in price over the years to a tenner so best not get carried away with too much more spending.
Hopefully give her a polish tomorrow.
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